U.S. opens fronts to sway public opinion

Bob Kemper, Washington bureauTribune foreign correspondent

President Bush stepped up America's offensive in the war for worldwide public opinion on Tuesday, warning that Osama bin Laden is seeking biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and urging allies to stand by the United States in the fight against terrorism.

"No nation can be neutral in this conflict," Bush said by satellite to a meeting of 17 Central and Eastern European leaders. "You're either with us or you're against us."

Bush did not elaborate and offered no evidence for his accusation. His message appeared aimed at bolstering allied support as the military campaign against Afghanistan'sTaliban regime and bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization moves into a second month without a clear measure of progress in a war marked by little reliable firsthand information.

Germany and France responded by pledging troops to the U.S.-led coalition. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder committed 3,900 soldiers, 100 of them special forces troops, while French President Jacques Chirac met with Bush at the White House and said 2,000 French soldiers already are in Central Asia near Afghanistan.

Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in Central Asia, moved to shut down competing reports coming from Afghan officials, ordering the Taliban's ambassador to stop giving media briefings on the war's progress.

The decision reflected concerns in Islamabad and Washington that the Taliban's claims of success against U.S. troops and reports of massive civilian casualties may be widely accepted in the region, though denounced by the Pentagon as untrue or wildly exaggerated.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said information picked up over the last week on his trip to four Central Asian nations had led him to conclude that victory in Afghanistan could come sooner than Bush administration officials had predicted.

"I do not think it will take years to deal with the Taliban or the Al Qaeda organization," Rumsfeld said. "... [M]y feeling is that it will be months, not years. And time will tell."

In Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance rebels said they had captured several villages on the road to Mazar-e Sharif, a key northern city, amid heavy bombing by U.S. warplanes and with the support of American military advisers targeting Taliban positions on the ground. The rebels' claim could not be independently verified.

U.S. jets also struck Taliban forces north of the capital, Kabul, witnesses said.

Bush cites bin Laden claim

Bush offered no hard evidence that bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, has nuclear, biological or chemical weapons or that he was actively seeking them. White House aides said Bush was echoing concerns voiced in past administrations, while Bush said he based his accusation on claims made by bin Laden himself.

In a 1998 interview with ABC News, bin Laden expressed a desire to acquire weapons of mass destruction. "If I seek to acquire such weapons, this is a religious duty," bin Laden said. "How we use them is up to us."

The Saudi fugitive's ability to carry out a chemical, biological or nuclear attack is open to question. Vice President Dick Cheney has said Al Qaeda has trained terrorists to use chemical and biological weapons.

Bin Laden's group is believed to have access to crude chemical weapons such as chlorine gas. Witnesses in the trial of four men convicted of bombing two U.S. Embassies in East Africa in 1998 said bin Laden had sent agents to Sudan to buy uranium, potentially to build nuclear bombs, but were unclear as to whether the purchase was made.

Bush, appearing in the Rose Garden with Chirac, said bin Laden "announced that this was his intention, and I believe we need to take him seriously."

"This is an evil man that we're dealing with, and I wouldn't put it past him to develop evil weapons," Bush said. "If he doesn't have them, we will work hard to make sure he doesn't [get them]. If he does, we'll make sure he doesn't deploy them."

Bush's comments were the first time he suggested that bin Laden might possess weapons of mass destruction. The White House said Bush, in suggesting that bin Laden was interested in biological weapons, was not claiming that the Saudi exile is responsible for the anthrax that has killed four Americans and sickened many others since Oct. 5.

"We still do not know the source [of the anthrax], whether it was foreign or domestic," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

In his message to the 17 European leaders meeting in Warsaw, Bush gave his sternest criticism yet of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, saying they have imprisoned women in their own homes, killed innocent people and then celebrated the deaths, stole food from their citizens and destroyed the icons of other religions.

"Children are forbidden to fly kites or sing songs or build snowmen," Bush said. He said a 7-year-old girl was beaten for wearing white shoes. "And now they're trying to export terrorism throughout the world," he said.

"These terrorist groups seek to destabilize entire nations and regions. They're seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Given the means, our enemies would be a threat to every nation; and, eventually, to civilization itself."

Bush portrayed terrorism as the next great threat to democracy and capitalism, likening terrorists to "the fascists and totalitarians before them."

"The peoples of your region suffered under repressive ideologies that tried to trample human dignity," Bush told the group, including representatives of many former Soviet bloc nations. "Today, our freedom is threatened once again.

"We see the same intolerance of dissent, the same mad global ambitions, the same brutal determination to control every life and all of life," Bush said.

The president was careful not to condemn communism by name so as not to offend China, an ally in the current fight against terrorism.

Bush also reassured the group that the U.S.-led bombing in Afghanistan was making progress in weakening the Taliban and bin Laden. "Our military is systematically pursuing its mission," Bush said. "We've destroyed many terrorist training camps. We have severed communication links. We're taking out air defenses. And now we're attacking the Taliban's front lines."

'With us or against us'

Previewing the speech he will deliver Saturday at the United Nations, Bush took a sterner tone with members of the anti-terrorism coalition.

"I'm going to praise those nations who've joined our coalition," Bush said. "But a coalition partner must do more than just express sympathy. A coalition partner must perform."

Bush did not spell out what actions he expects U.S. partners to take, saying it would vary based on each nation's ability. Nor did he single out any country for criticism.

"I have no specific nation in mind, at least as I stand here now," he said. "Everybody ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. But over time it's going to be important for nations to know they will be held accountable for inactivity. Either you're with us or you're against us in the fight against terror."

Bush on Thursday will fly to Atlanta to deliver an address aimed at reassuring Americans that their government is doing everything possible to protect the homeland from anthrax attacks and a second possible terrorist strike.

He also will meet with a stream of foreign leaders, ending with a summit next week with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Chirac praises president

Chirac praised Bush for his calm determination. But the French president said he and Bush hope to move quickly beyond military action to the political activity that will help establish a new Afghan government to replace the Taliban.

Chirac also emphasized the need to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees as well as the vast majority of Afghans still living inside Afghanistan.

"The military aspect is necessary, yes," Chirac said. "But the U.S. and its allies are currently making efforts to speed up the political process and the quest for a political settlement in Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that the number of military reservists called to active duty since Bush authorized a partial mobilization Sept. 14 stands at 52,457.

Liz Sly in Islamabad, John Diamond of the Tribune's Washington Bureau and Tribune news services contributed to this report.